In the agriculture industry, it is common to load agricultural products such as potatoes into a trailer for transport from the field to a storage facility. Most conventional agricultural trailers are open on top, so that produce can be loaded easily by automated picking equipment. There are various means known for emptying the contents of an agricultural trailer. One common method is to employ a chain driven belt to carry the contents to the rear of the trailer, where they are discharged out a rear gate. In a typical arrangement, a conveyor belt affixed to a pair of endless drive chains extends along the floor of the trailer. The chains are received by a pair of freely turning sprockets at the front end of the trailer, and a second pair of sprockets at the rear end of the trailer. The second pair of sprockets are turned by a motor, pulling the upper run of the drive chains from the front of the trailer to the rear, and the lower run of the drive chains from the rear of the trailer to the front.
While functional, the currently known chain driven belt discharge device is problematic. When used to unload agricultural products such as potatoes, which are mixed with dirt, mud, and/or rocks when harvested, the chain drive can be damaged by debris which slips under the belt and becomes caught in the chain. Attempts have been made to avoid this problem by using a belt made up of a plurality of relatively lightweight overlapping flaps. Each flap is affixed to the chain drive at the flap leading edge, and its trailing edge is unattached. A spacer bar affixed between the drive chains supports each flap. The flaps form a flat surface on the upper run of the chain drive. As the belt is advanced to the rear of the trailer and the produce is offloaded, each flap rotates around to the lower run of the chain drive. The unattached trailing edge is free to hang vertically from the chain drive. Thus, any debris which may have entered the belt drive apparatus is free to fall through to the ground without causing damage to the chain drive. While somewhat effective at reducing problems associated with rocks, dirt and mud damaging the chain drive, the flap-belt device is expensive to manufacture, and adds unwanted weight to the trailer due to the many spacer bars required. Additionally, the flap belt device requires more maintenance than a conventional conveyor belt design.
Another problem with the currently known chain driven belt discharge device is that when the belt becomes worn or damaged, it must be detached from the chain drive for replacement. This process can be time consuming, especially when the belt has been affixed to the chain drive every 12 to 18 inches. To avoid this problem, attempts have been made to use a relatively thin belt that relies on tension between two or more rollers to hold it in position. However, such a design has been proven to be problematic, requiring high maintenance and frequent replacement to keep the belt in position.
It would be advantageous, therefore, to have a chain driven belt discharge device which does not require that the belt be affixed to the chain drive or held in place by tension between two rollers.
It would also be desirable to have a chain driven belt discharge device which is relatively lightweight.
It would further be desirable to have a chain driven belt discharge device which permits relatively rapid and simple change of worn or damaged belts.